Stewartry Sirens join forces with Kirkcudbright's Dark Art Distillery

A new sponsorship deal for Stewartry Sirens may make trips to Fortress Greenlaw a bit more appealing for opponents next season.

The Sirens narrowly missed out on promotion, conceding just 17 points at home during their National League One campaign.

And while they plan to continue their physical brand of rugby, the post-match hospitality will be a bit more enjoyable thanks to Kirkcudbright’s Dark Art Distillery sponsorship of the player of the match awards including bottles of their multi-award winning Sky Garden Gin.

Distillery founder Andrew Clark-Hutchison said: “We are very pleased to sponsor the Sirens, particularly in a season when the Scottish Women’s squad are competing in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

“It is a great opportunity to invest in our Galloway community, support a local sports club and play our part in supporting women’s rugby.

The Sirens will be looking to make the support pay off in chasing the play-off win that eluded them last season, having taken a team that included six players in their first season of rugby all the way to the showpiece event in Aberdeenshire.

Head coach David Thomson said: “We’ll be looking to build on last season’s successes and bring on more new talent from Dumfries and Galloway. The Sirens need no incentive to perform but sponsorship from Dark Art Distillery with bottles of the luxurious Sky Garden Gin being awarded to the players of the match is a welcome acknowledgement that we are building something special at Stewartry.

“It is a definite sign we are moving in the right direction and attracting support for the team, women’s rugby and driving up sports participation levels for women and girls.”

The Sirens kick-off their season away against Howe of Fife on Sunday, September 4.

The first home game is against newly promoted Biggar, who won last year’s national plate competition, at Murrayfield, on September 11.

That will be the first game of Dark Art Distillery’s sponsorship and, whilst both teams will have their focus on a strong start to their league campaigns, there is no doubt a couple of players, with their Sky Garden Gin player of the match awards, will be going home happier than their teammates.

Sirens captain Clare Dooley said: “It’s great for me to know that we have support from a business in my home town of Kirkcudbright. Dark Art Distillery and their amazing Sky Garden Gin are proudly south west Scotland and bringing something distinctly Galloway to the big leagues - sounds like a natural fit for the Sirens.”